Translation Style Guide

How to use this guide

This guide is a reference for translating Activist Checklist content. It is not a strict set of rules, but a guide to help you understand the context and tone of the content.

Please see the English contributor style guide for the general principles of writing for Activist Checklist. These all apply to translations as well.

When translating, use your best judgment to apply the principles and guidelines in this guide. If you are not sure about something, ask us for advice.

About the audience

Readers are everyday people involved in community organizing, protest, mutual aid, and social movements in the US. They are not technical experts — many are encountering digital security concepts for the first time. The audience spans a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and identities, including people of color, queer and trans people, undocumented individuals, and others who face elevated risk from state surveillance.

Voice and Tone

We are peers, not experts. Write as a fellow organizer sharing practical knowledge, not as a professional lecturing. The English source uses “we,” “you,” “folks,” and casual phrasing. Never talk down to readers.

✅ Good

“We use passphrases because they’re easier to remember than random strings of characters.”

❌ Not our style

“Users should employ passphrases to enhance credential security.”

We name power directly. Use informal terms for authorities — “the cops,” not “law enforcement” or “police officers.” Use the natural colloquial equivalent in your target language. Say “surveillance,” not “monitoring.” Be clear about who poses threats and why.

✅ Good

“The cops can subpoena your messages from your provider.”

❌ Not our style

“Law enforcement may legally request communications data from your service provider.”

We center collective safety. Frame security as mutual protection: “protecting yourself helps protect your community.”

We acknowledge difficulty honestly. Don’t pretend security is easy. The source says things like “we know this is a lot” and “you don’t have to do everything at once.” Preserve this honesty.

We are practical, not paranoid. Give concrete steps, not abstract warnings. Help readers make informed decisions based on their actual risk level.

Tone by Content Type

Content Type	Tone	Example
Checklist items	Clear, instructive, brief	”Turn off location services before you leave for the action.”
Explanations (expandable sections)	Conversational, peer-to-peer	”The cops can use your phone’s location data to prove you were at a protest.”
Risk descriptions	Direct, matter-of-fact, not alarmist	”If your phone is confiscated, the cops can read messages on your home screen without unlocking it.”
Encouragement / framing	Warm, solidarity-oriented	”We keep each other safe.”

Formality Register

The English source is very informal: contractions, colloquial language, second person throughout. Match this register in translation. For languages with formal/informal distinctions, use whichever register sounds warm and accessible given the cultural context of the target community. If that community’s activist conventions favor a different register, follow community norms.

Gender-Inclusive Language

Use gender-neutral language wherever possible. For gendered languages, follow the conventions used in progressive and activist spaces for that language (e.g., “todes” in some Spanish-speaking activist communities, or alternating gendered forms). When in doubt, prioritize clarity and natural readability over strict gender-neutral formulations.

Do Not Translate

Keep the following in English exactly as written:

App and service names: Signal, Proton Mail, Proton VPN, Proton Drive, Proton Docs, Tor Browser, Mullvad, IVPN, Magic Earth, CryptPad, Brave, Firefox, uBlock Origin, EasyOptOuts, Optery, DeleteMe

Organization names: EFF, National Lawyers Guild, NLG, PrivacyGuides.org

The site name: Activist Checklist, ActivistChecklist.org

Technical abbreviations: VPN, 2FA, FOIA, PIN, SIM, IMEI, URL, Wi-Fi

URLs: Do not translate any URLs.

App navigation paths: Keep paths like “Settings > Privacy > Screen Lock” in English unless the target OS/app has an official localization — in that case, use the official localized strings.

Technical Terms

Use the precise, established translation for technical security terms in your target language. Do not simplify “end-to-end encryption” into vague alternatives. If a technical term is commonly used as a loanword in the target language (e.g., “phishing,” “malware”), prefer the loanword.

Technical terms in the source are often followed by an explanation when they first appear. Preserve this structure.

✅ Good

“Signal uses end-to-end encryption, which means only you and the person you’re talking to can read the messages.”

❌ Not our style

“Signal uses strong security so your chats stay private.”

Activist and Organizing Terminology

Terms like “direct action,” “mutual aid,” “organizing,” and “comrade” carry specific political meaning. Translate using terms recognized in the target language’s activist communities, not generic dictionary translations. Translate “at-risk” to convey elevated danger, not vulnerability in a patronizing sense.

US-Specific Content

Some content is very US-specific (FOIA, NLG, specific laws and agencies). When translating:

• Keep organization names and legal terms in English.
• Add brief contextual notes if the concept has no direct equivalent, following the pattern already established in the source.
• Do not substitute with equivalent local organizations or laws — this content is written for US-based communities.

Formatting

• Preserve all Markdown formatting: headers, bold, links, lists, code blocks.
• Preserve all HTML elements and attributes.
• Preserve emoji if present.

Spanish-Specific Rules

• Prefer Latin American Spanish over general Spanish
• Use tú (not usted). Tú creates warmth, accessibility, and a sense of solidarity that fits an activist/organizing context. Usted can feel bureaucratic or distancing in this register, even where it is the regional default. Conjugate verbs and pronouns consistently in the tú form (e.g., tienes, tu cuenta, contigo).
• Choose language that is less bureaucratic. Plain language is the goal. Simplest synonyms are preferred.
• Prefer more concise and natural Spanish flow rather than matching the source English perfectly

✅ Good (Latin American convention)

“¿Puede apagar la ubicación antes de salir?”

❌ Not our style for this project

“¿Puedes apagar la ubicación antes de salir?”

• Choose the simplest, most natural synonym available. Avoid bureaucratic or overly formal phrasing.
• Prefer concise, natural Spanish flow over a literal match to the English source structure.